#jesseblue writes

[artsyjesseblue]

Jesse's Blog Masterpost

Hey people of Tumblr! I've created a lot of art, fics and metas in the past few years. Although I dab into other fandoms too, VLD remains the focus of this blog - in the form of illustrations, fanfics and metas (some artworks are still available as prints in my Ko-fi shop). This is an updated masterpost of links to the most representative artworks and fanfics, as well as every meta I've written. Yup, a lot of Lotura. :)

VLD art (#jesseblue draws) Here are some of my favorite artworks created in the past few years: Dancing Allura Here's Some Alchemy Lotor gets a massage Bedtime Lotura Allura on the Moon Halloween Lotura New Year Lotura Lotura's Alchemy Lasts Forever - my most popular artwork Plance Dance Wardrobe Updates - Lotura Week 2023 entry Beach Day - Lotura Week 2023 entry Wardrobe Updates - Lotor - Lotura Week 2023 entry Wardrobe Updates - Allura - Lotura Week 2023 entry Lotura's Celestial Wedding Lilac Love - Lotura Week 2024 entry Drawings inspired by other writers' fics: "Quiet!" - a Pidge and Keith drawing Lotor clawing his way out of a muddy situation DotU Lotor chopping wood Some art was created for my fanfic "Nothing Ever Truly Goes Extinct": Story banner "Allura, please..." Lotor's Pirouette Space Mouse in Pilot Suit Melancholy Angry Romelle Don't Mess With Acxa She Is Beauty... We Will Win "Though She Be But Little" Acxa and Jesse VLD-TDP cross-art Aaravos and Lotor Find my VLD fanfiction on AO3 here (#jesseblue writes) All my VLD metas (#jesseblue writes) The Two Alluras: An analysis of some potential post-animation edits and errors in several scenes during the last episode, when the Paladins face Honerva in the Connected Consciousness.

Oh No, Lotor: Why Lotor should not be among the Paladins of Old in the final scenes of VLD.

Sleeping Allura: Some logical deductions based on basic rules of cinematography, regarding the very last scene in S8E10 - Knights of Light Part 2.

Decoding Voltron’s Rosetta Stone: My biggest meta (seriously, it’s really long), an interpretative analysis of numerous symbols in the official VLD comics - which, at a first glance look absolutely innocent, yet oftentimes eerily cryptic, especially the Yalexian Pearl book.

Lion vs. Wolf: An extension of the previous meta, focused on a comparison between the White Lion - Guardian of Oriande and Gantomor - Warden of the Sacred Hunting Grounds (comics).

So Safe and Warm: Why “Luxia’s Kingdom” actually reads “Altea” in the last commercial scene of “The Feud”.

Petrulius - What Happened to You?: Questioning the purpose of Lotor’s pods on the moon colony, by comparing the images of Petrulius and the original (doctor) Haggar.

Allura Drawn over Lotor (with gifs): Mostly a visual meta with gifs, showing Allura was drawn over Lotor in the last episode, as part of the post-animation edits.

I Have Beezer Questions: Several observations regarding animation inconsistencies during the Allura and Lance first kiss scene, most notably their flipped placement on the screen and Beezer’s trajectory.

A Noble Cause: An interpretation of Allura’s vision in Clear Day, if we were to start from the premise that Lotor was infusing his moon Alteans with the Entity. The Zarkon-Honerva-Lotor meta trilogy - an in-depth analysis of the profound reasons that led to the tragic descent into madness of these three antagonist characters. Prepare for reading some long metas, especially Lotor's: Slowly Going Mad - Part I - Zarkon Slowly Going Mad - Part II - Honerva Slowly Going Mad - Part III - Lotor I also wrote one short meta about Aaravos, from The Dragon Prince (my speculation turned out to be true, heh).

[artsyjesseblue]

Oops, I lost track of words. This two-chapter fic spawned into five installments 😁

Here’s Chapter 2, a little treat before the holidays. 😘

A little Lotura fic, for weekend readers… 😘

Tags: Lotura

Rating: Teen and up

Summary: When Allura fails to wake up after the Paladins escape Honerva's mind, everyone believes Honerva was able to use the entity against her. Little do they know she's actually continuing her metaphysical travel, to a different place - a magical place she'd built not long ago. Although conflicted by many doubts and fears, she finds the strength to defy the patriarchal influence of the old Paladins and follow her heart.

[artsyjesseblue]

Randomly reading tumblr articles, I stumbled upon a link to an old interview with Voltron’s EPs. This part of the interview stood out to me, as I’ve been supporting the same interpretation of why Zarkon and Honerva became corrupt.

Interviewer: Do you think that, had Zarkon not been infected by the poisoned Quintessence, he may have remained “good?” Or do you think his obsession with Quintessence was already too great and it would’ve only been a matter of time before he became truly evil?

Dos Santos: I personally think that he had very ideological differences with the way Alfor saw things, even without the Quintessence coming into play. I think they came from very opposite ends of societal places.

Montgomery: Different cultures.

Dos Santos: But, they found common ground, and they worked together, so I think there’s a good chance that they could’ve worked together. Maybe there would’ve been ups and downs.

Montgomery: They didn’t see eye to eye, but nothing quite on the level that this has taken had he not encountered that Quintessence. Had they never discovered Voltron, even if they had resorted to war, it would’ve been a much smaller fallout. Something bad would’ve happened in their galaxy, but he wouldn’t have this world denomination that he’s been going on because of his obsession.

Dos Santos: I think Quintessence, if anything, it sort of grabs on to the worst of us and accentuates those elements. Like anything, it corrupts.

Montgomery: Anything at all, even, whether it’s good or evil. Medicine in large doses can kill you. So that’s really what Quintessence is. It’s not innately good or innately bad. It’s a power source, and if you misuse it, it can be very disastrous.

Dos Santos: I think that was the point also that Alfor was trying to get across. He was saying, “Guys, look, you’ve got to covet this stuff extremely cautiously,” in mind that there’s a balance with all of it.

Their commentaries go hand in hand with something Shiro’s clone said in S6: “Zarkon fell prey to his own evil instincts. The quintessence field didn’t create them, it revealed them.”

I’ve written two metas about Zarkon and Honerva’s madness arcs in detail, starting exactly from this premise - the blame is not shifted solely on quintessence, but on their own initial flaws.

The way I like to see it is like this: imagine a slider on a scale from white to black. In between there are lots of grays, which we all have, to a darker or lighter degree. Quintessence will take that slider and radically shift it in one or the other direction, depending what gray zone you’re in. Allura would be the positive example: she tipped the scale towards the bright side - when saving all realities, she transformed the quintessence "from a destructive force to a life-giving force."

Neither Honerva nor Zarkon were devoid of their past selves, even after becoming so vile. Their old selves were still there, their consciousnesses buried deep inside, and my metas explore their gradual transitions towards loss/recovery of their own personas, also taking into account the role of the dark entity within their journeys.

Lance says this nicely at the end of the show: “And had Princess Allura not seen that there was still good left in Honerva, we most likely would not be sitting here today. She grew to understand that there is good in everyone.”

Kid: “Even Emperor Zarkon?”

Lance: “Yes, even Emperor Zarkon.”

[artsyjesseblue]

Curious have you ever thought that Romelle might have been lying about the colony just so she could have Lotor knocked off since it’s seemed like she immediately stopped caring about the colony entirely in S7 and just tried to inconvenience the Paladins any given chance it just seemed odd how she went from “MuSt AvEnge mY BrUTHer” to ditzy idiot plus the mech pilot in S8 immediately referred to Romelle as a traitor which is a little eyebrow raising

Hi Anon, thank you, that is a good question and yes, I thought about that possibility, as well.

I don’t have much evidence to either support or to deny this theory.

It might very well be that she wanted to take Lotor down out of own interest (we don’t know exactly if it was revenge for Bandor’s death or something else - since we would start from the premise that she lied). There are lots of theories out there about the reasons why she would lie, I read some of them - but I cannot agree or disagree, for the same reasons.

A few notes on the comments about her behavior:

- “she immediately stopped caring about the colony entirely in S7” - I agree that she didn’t express any more emotions regarding her lost family in S7. But Allura didn’t talk much about the heartbreak she’d gone through, either. This might simply be because the show had a limited amount of air time and so much action to pack into it; a lot was cut out in the process.

Also, to her defense, she did ask the Paladins, right at the beginning of S7: “Wait, you just fought Lotor, defeated him, stopped an explosion that could have destroyed reality, took your friend’s consciousness from the Black Lion of Voltron, and put it inside his clone, and now we’re simply moving on?” and Hunk replies: “Trust me, I’m always saying the exact same thing, but these guys like to move on.” Which seems sensible on her part - she wants to pause and maybe grief, rest… But, as Hunk implies, the show must go on, which, as others noted before, might be a subtle hint from the writers, setting the premise for the entire season: they have to push through with more action scenes, there’s no time for sentimentality. Immediately after, Romelle follows the Paladins quietly, and the concern on her face is quite evident. Which might be exactly the explanation to why she doesn’t bring the subject of the colony or her family again.

- “she tried to inconvenience the Paladins at any given chance” - I don’t see much evidence of that. Are you referring to the fact that she brought Lance to exasperation during their trip back to Earth, by trying out all the buttons in his cockpit? LOL, she did act silly but I don’t see any connection between that and her previous actions. People have different personality aspects in different circumstances. Plus, it seems like a good writer’s technique to create goofy moments during the episodes - after all, it’s a show for kids, they had to keep things light here and there. The Paladins acted silly a lot - that doesn’t mean they didn’t miss their families.

Actually, in S7E2, Romelle made herself useful - when Allura’s Lion encounters an attacker, she goes out there and knocks him out.

However, there’s one scene that raised my eyebrow, although it’s not something that would qualify as actively causing an inconvenience to the Paladins. There’s a short exchange between her and Hunk, while riding the back of the Yalmore.

Hunk yells: “This is worse than being bait!”

Romelle replies: “At least then you were the only one in danger!”

Hunk chides her: “Hey, Romelle…!”

This casts a light a little bit into her personality. She might just be that type of person willing to throw someone else under the bus if she had the chance…? Which, a very long shot, but it might be a tiny proof that she somehow conspired against Lotor. Again, not enough proof.

- “she went from “Must avenge my bruther” to ditzy idiot” - I’m circling back to “the show must move on” and the ‘goofy characters in a kids show’ subject. Also, based on the amount of evidence floating around, if the IP owner wanted the show to appeal more to a very young audience, it might explain why Romelle goes from vengeful girl in S6 to silly kid in S7, to a flat character in S8. It might very well be that she had a more serious demeanor initially, we don’t know. But this still doesn’t connect any dots with the possibility of her being a liar.

- “plus the mech pilot in S8 immediately referred to Romelle as a traitor, which is a little eyebrow raising”.

It makes sense that Luca, the mech pilot (also the first acolyte), called Romelle a traitor. Honerva arrived at the colony before Kolivan (who told Keith he found only “an empty facility”) and stirred the Alteans against Voltron. From their perspective, anyone collaborating with Voltron was considered a turncoat, including Allura and Coran, because that’s how Honerva indoctrinated them.

And we know for sure the main settlement was blind about their sister colony because they ask Honerva: “do you know of their whereabouts?” Which means Romelle didn’t lie at least about that part.

We also certainly know Luca was from the main Altean planet, not somehow a survivor from the moon colony, because Honerva clearly established with them that their “sister colony” perished at the “evils” of Voltron (which, as far as we know, it wasn’t Voltron’s doing, but it proves the point that Honerva intentionally manipulates them against the Coalition). Then Honerva requested from Merla: “Find me the most faithful amongst us”. Merla brought her Luca, the first acolyte - which ties to what Allura said about her: “If she was so desperate for something to believe in, it may have made her susceptible to being manipulated.”

Luca, like the rest of the main colony, was completely blind to what Lotor operated on the second colony; she just faithfully followed Honerva.

When Romelle had the discussion with Luca, right at the beginning of S8, the Coalition had no clue who sent out those mechs or what happened to the colony. They only knew that Kolivan found an empty facility. Those mechs could have been Lotor’s for all they knew. Only when Luca says: “You don’t stand a chance against Honerva” do they all find out who’s behind the Komar mech operations. This is confirmed when Allura returns to Atlas, meets Romelle, then discusses with the Paladins and says: “If Honerva sent that beast, then our mission must change.”

If… an Altean from the second colony had called Romelle a “traitor”, then I would have been suspicious. But coming from the people who are clearly manipulated by Honerva, it actually makes sense.

There are other things Romelle might have lied about, though - like her discussions with Bandor, what Bandor told her before dying… and who knows what else. Things that might be crucial to our understanding of Lotor’s second colony.

My other theory is that Romelle really was clueless and just drew erroneous conclusions about Lotor, based on her preexisting bias against him, due to losing not only her brother, but her entire family, who, as she mentioned, had an “unquestioning devotion to a supposed messiah.”

Lotor told everyone when Romelle allegedly “exposed” him: “You know nothing about what you speak.” Which, I think, was said in all honesty. (the EP’s mentioned in some interviews about him that he doesn’t lie, he just goes about things his own way). Based on that, I believe that Romelle being a ditzy idiot might reduce the problem to just that… She knows nothing about what she speaks.

What is clear to many of us who analyzed S8 is that in the second part of the season Romelle becomes a puppet with no lines, just a simple presence - also poorly drawn (over other characters?) and we can only speculate what that means.

Also speculative - but if you read these two articles (in this order), you might see why I came up with my simple theory about Romelle:

https://leakinghate.tumblr.com/post/176314471363/the-depths-to-which-we-sink

https://www.tumblr.com/artsyjesseblue/697467735246028800/so-safe-and-warm

I think there’s no conclusive evidence for either theory, so I’ll just leave it at that. Maybe someday we’ll find out. Until then, live long and prosper!… aaaa, I meant vrepit sa!

[artsyjesseblue]

My 1-year VLD Metas Masterpost

It's been almost a year since I took a tumble down the quintessential slopes of VLD and happily rolled with it.

After binge-reading historic accounts of the fandom’s ups and downs, articles, analyses, opinions, interviews, “rumors” and “conspiracies”, what ifs and why nots, I reached my own conclusions… I believe the writers and EPs who put all their soul and talent into bringing us VLD were constrained by the IP owner (WEP) to alter their final vision, and were subsequently locked under NDAs from acknowledging their initial work. As an artist who -unfortunately- knows a bit about the clash between the creative process and the opposing financial and not-so-talented managerial forces, I sought to contribute to the existing pool of metas floating in the tumblr space, and help unveil the original direction of the VLD story, so artfully crafted by the writers & producers. So here are my metas, chronologically:

The Two Alluras: An analysis of some potential post-animation edits and errors in several scenes during the last episode, when the Paladins face Honerva in the Connected Consciousness.

Oh No, Lotor: Why Lotor should not be among the Paladins of Old in the final scenes of VLD.

Sleeping Allura: Some logical deductions based on basic rules of cinematography, regarding the very last scene in S8E10 - Knights of Light Part 2.

Decoding Voltron's Rosetta Stone: My biggest meta (seriously, it's really long), an interpretative analysis of numerous symbols in the official VLD comics - which, at a first glance look absolutely innocent, yet oftentimes eerily cryptic, especially the Yalexian Pearl book.

Lion vs. Wolf: An extension of the previous meta, focused on a comparison between the White Lion - Guardian of Oriande and Gantomor - Warden of the Sacred Hunting Grounds (comics).

So Safe and Warm: Why "Luxia's Kingdom" actually reads "Altea" in the last commercial scene of "The Feud".

Petrulius - What Happened to You?: Questioning the purpose of Lotor's pods on the moon colony, by comparing the images of Petrulius and the original (doctor) Haggar.

Allura Drawn over Lotor (with gifs): Mostly a visual meta with gifs, showing Allura was drawn over Lotor in the last episode, as part of the post-animation edits.

I Have Beezer Questions: Several observations regarding animation inconsistencies during the Allura and Lance first kiss scene, most notably their flipped placement on the screen and Beezer's trajectory.

A Noble Cause: An interpretation of Allura's vision in Clear Day, if we were to start from the premise that Lotor was infusing his moon Alteans with the Entity.

[artsyjesseblue]

Nothing Ever Truly Goes Extinct - New Chapters

“Lotor, there must be another way. We’ll find it. Together.” Allura’s genuine smile invaded the space between them, her noble sweetness seeping in through his tough armor.

“I was never able to find any other way, Allura. For ten thousand years I’ve been condemned to use the tools of my enemies to defeat them,” he cast his eyes down and found himself unwittingly gaining more territory up her fingers and onto her palm.

She visually followed the tingly trails of his thumb across her sensitive mounds, delighting in the soft feeling permeating her core. A light breath escaped her chest. His thumb paused its wandering, in expectation of her next words.

“I feel as if I’m only beginning to understand the Lifegivers’ message, yet there is still a long way ahead of us. We shall learn to navigate these uncharted territories together,” eyelids gently glided over cerulean pools.

A strange bouquet of emotions warmly curled about her being, like an invisible mantle of contradictory premonitions. An unknown magnetic pull desired naught but to abolish that space between them, just as it had magically drawn her closer to the quartz wall of the Great Connected Plane, yet propriety pinned her onto the rigid chair underneath.

Could it even be called “propriety”, or should she just name it like it was, plain and simple - fear?

Ever since she met him, he kept inviting her into more and more treacherous spaces, opening her up to frightful enigmas. Despite her friends’ desperate antagonist pleas, she followed her intuition - which shrieked in fear, yet rejoiced in the thrill of novelty.

Her father oftentimes accused Honerva of being too daring. Oh, did she ever go too far! On the other hand, the empress blamed the Altean king of being too fearful of pushing science’s boundaries.

Where lay the truth, then?

She found herself at the same mystifying crossroads, staring straight at Honerva’s precious son.

——————————-

Read on AO3: Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Entire Work

Voltron Legendary Defender - Lotura Fanfic

Rating: Teen and up

Main tags: Lotura, Plance, Sheith

[artsyjesseblue]

A new chapter from Nothing Ever Truly Goes Extinct is out. Care for a Rematch of The Feud? 😀 🐸

Chapter 14 Entire Work

Bob turned his attention to the two competitor teams.

“Now, I think everyone was introduced to the fellow Paladins in the past, but let’s recap their names and introduce someone new on their team - well, not so new - actually quite oldie, ha-ha. What is your name, handsome?”

“My name is Shiro.”

“That’s right. And you’re a Paladin - again?”

“It appears so,” Shiro shrugged, measuring up the show host.

“Well, let’s give a warm welcome to our old timer, Shiro, who likes to come back as a Paladin with every occasion,” Bob encouraged the audience to applause. “The other members of this team - we’ve met before - so let’s give another round of applause to…

Hunk, the soft hearted boy…

Lance, the dumb one…

Pidge, who likes to tackle me - I gotta be careful about that…

and Keith, who asks questions when it’s not his turn.

[artsyjesseblue]

Two more chapters from Nothing Ever Truly Goes Extinct are done!

Chapter 12 Chapter 13

Among many other developments, the mice are really proud of going on their first solo space mission 🐭 (Don’t ask me about their space suits… Coran and Merla have more answers)